A US Air Force general has admitted that the Unites States air advantage is shrinking in comparison with Russia’s capabilities.

General Frank Gorenc, commander of US Air Forces in Europe, made the comment as Moscow was engaged in a massive military exercise.

“The advantage that we had from the air, I can honestly say, is shrinking with respect to the aircraft that they’re producing,” Gorenc (pictured below) said at the annual Air Force Association conference on Monday.

“What we saw is a very large modernization effort and a capacity effort that is manifesting itself at this point,” he added.

US authorities have on several occasions voiced concerns over military modernization in Russia as well as China.

Gorenc, however, said, “This is not just a Pacific problem; it is as significant in Europe as it is anywhere else on the planet. I don’t think it’s controversial to say they’ve closed the gap in capability.”

The Russian Defense Ministry announced in a statement earlier that “the strategic command-and-staff (military) exercise Center–2015 has been started.”

Center–2015 is being carried out over 20 sites across Russia’s central military district, which spans from the Volga River to the Ural mountains and Siberia in the east and reaches to the country’s far northern regions.

The US is also sending unmanned MA-1 Predator drones to Latvia, a neighbor of Russia’s, among other military measures in the region.

Meanwhile, the situation remains volatile in Eastern Europe due to a crisis in Ukraine which has exacerbated Moscow-Washington ties.

The White House accuses the Kremlin of meddling in Ukraine’s internal affairs and backing pro-Russia forces in eastern Ukraine. Russia has resolutely denied the claims.